Jupiter Auto Accident Settles for $140,000 Based Entirely On Witness Testimony


Did you know that the credibility of your witness is quite possibly the most important aspect in a case? Our client drove through an intersection with the green light and was instantly T-boned by a vehicle that ran the red light. Our client’s vehicle was hit so hard his vehicle spun around twice before coming to a stop almost 30 feet from the point of impact. Not knowing what to do, our client called the Jupiter Auto Accident Attorneys Dell and Schaefer from the accident scene. One of our associates answered the call and told our client to seek medical help immediately. The attorney also said that if our client was physically able to do so, it was in his best interest to see if there were any witnesses that saw the accident, and if there were any witnesses then he should ask them to stay until the police arrived and also write down their name and number. Our client spoke to the driver of the car directly behind him who confirmed that our client had the green light. When the police arrived at the scene, the other driver that caused the accident told the police that he had a green light and that our client had a red light. The other driver also had a witness who said that our client had a red light. So herein arose the legal predicament for our client. Both drivers of the accident said they each had the green light and both drivers had witnesses that each said the other driver ran the red light.

Client Undergoes Neck Surgery as Result of Injuries From Accident

Immediately after the accident our client felt immediate pain in his neck and back. Our client went to an orthopedic surgeon who ordered an MRI right away. The MRI showed multi level herniations in the cervical spine. The orthopedic surgeon informed the client that conservative treatment would not improve his level of pain and that a minimally invasive spine surgery, a percutaneous discectomy, was necessary. Understanding the seriousness of his injuries, our client consented to the surgery. The procedure, done under local anesthesia, lasted 20 minutes and the client walked out of the operating room with a couple stitches and free from neck pain.

Our firm filed a bodily injury demand against the other driver’s insurance company. Within a week of filing the demand, our office received a denial letter from the other driver’s insurance company citing that their witness said that our client ran the red light and their insured was pursuing a bodily injury claim against our client. Without hesitation, our firm immediately began a thorough investigation into the credibility of the other driver’s witness. Using his name and telephone number, our firm was able to ascertain the criminal history of their witness. It turns out, that their witness was arrested several times for crimes involving dishonesty. Specifically two of the crimes were petty theft and breaking and entering of an unoccupied dwelling. We pulled his criminal history and sent it to the insurance company.

Our firm once again demanded that if they didn’t pay for our client’s bodily injury, that we would file a lawsuit against the driver and seek damages personally against the insurance company for not negotiating the case in good faith as insurance companies are required to do by law. We argued that the insurance company’s reliance on a witness who had a history of dishonesty and a long criminal record does not give the insurance company a reasonable ground to deny our client’s claim. In addition, our client’s witness had no criminal record. Since our witness was credible and their witness was not credible, we argued that the insurance company had a duty to pay our claim.

Within one week of receiving our final demand and extensive negotiations, the insurance company offered $140,000 to settle the case.

Our client was absolutely thrilled that our diligent efforts to discredit the other drivers witness was the primary reason we were able to recover a large settlement.



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